Figure 6.
From Cormack and Lamberty {2081}. Schematic of arteries supplying skin in cross section. The lowest layer (cross hatched cells) is skeletal muscle. The skin layer is represented by the thin unshaded layer at the top, bounded by two horizontal lines (for scaling take this as 1 mm thick). Between them is a rippled line, just below the top line; this represents the boundary between the upper epidermis and the dermis, the two layers of skin. Between the skin and muscle layers is the subcutaneous layer, cells stippled, on a basement membrane layer (cross hatching between continuous horizontal lines). The perforating arteries arise through the muscle layer without diminution in diameter. See Cormack and Lamberty's book for detailed renderings of varieties of perforators, such as those that pass through fascial planes rather than muscle, and others that travel in the subcutaneous layer.